Requirement to notify UK border agency of crew identity

[captplaystation]

Ladies & Gents
A new forum for me this one, but you are for sure best placed to answer this question.
I remember a couple of years ago hearing that the UK Border Agency , on behalf of "Fortress Britain," wanted to introduce legislation requiring air operators to provide the identity of crew members to them , prior (24hrs? ) to the flight.
In the event of an unforseen crew change,I could envisage the headache this would cause any crewing Dept, as not only would they need to find a new Bum to put on a seat, but they would then have to notify the powers that be. Did this ever come to pass ? or did common sense prevail ?
The reason it came back to me, is that I recently operated a flt from a European destination to the UK (for a foreign operator) & received a telephone call just prior to departure from our Ops asking my passport number, as they didn't have it to hand, and, according to them , they had to forward the names/passport numbers of all crew to the UK, even though we were only spending less than 1hr in Blighty on a normal turn-around.
Is this draconian rule really in effect ?

[mutt]

Yep it's in effect, our passports are scanned the same as passengers, I don't know the required timeline.

Mutt

[p7r]

Here's the ruling: UK Border Agency | General aviation operators and pilots (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/customs-travel/beforetravel/general-aviation/)

Here's the form: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/travel-customs/gar/gar-form.pdf

The C/P column on the left is to indicate if the individual is Crew or Pax

[captplaystation]

I wasn't thinking about being screened on arrival, as per a passenger, but the need to notify in advance "who" will be arriving/departing as crew, (whether they intend to enter the UK or not, in the case of foreign operators)
This is almost farcical, and given the Border Agencies recent failures, do they really have the staff to monitor this nonsense if it is in place.

At the end of the day, why would they need notification of who will operate into UK , with a planned turnaround & out again, if they intend to screen you on arrival if you do stay. And, given that any UK based crew will have a valid ID, why were they asking to be pre-notified who was going to be operating which flight, as , again, you must pass through Security/Baggage screening on your way to work.
Why this overkill for crew ?

Anyway Q remains, did/does it happen like this nowadays, my dear Ops/Crewing wallahs ?

[mutt]

Sorry I didnt make myself clear, we are scanned the same as passengers PRIOR to departure! Our operations people have a passport reader, so they record the information of all crew on the General Declaration.

Mutt

[Mr Angry from Purley]

Cpt PS
I'm 100% sure its been "parked" as they UK Border Agency had some sort of contractural disagreement with the service provider. I may be wrong but in the case of my airline one minute we we're almost buying the software for AIMS (Scheduling system) then the next minute it was back to normal.
We have to send passport info to some Spanish Airports and thats about it.
:\

[reracked]

Considering how easy it is to "arrive" in the South of Spain from points South, that is funny ;) pax have to notify all sorts of extra info too when booking a flt (certainly they used to on FR website when booking ) to Spain.
Guess the Spanish realised that we harboured all the terrorists in the UK. . . . actually, come to think of it :rolleyes:

[PT6A]

UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL REGULATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

United Kingdom - National Regulations and Requirements

PASSPORT

Required.

NOTE: Crew licence or crew member certificate which includes a certification that the holder may at all times re-enter the state of issuance is accepted as an identity document of for an aircrew member arriving or departing as such.

VISA

Required, except when otherwise provided by government agreements.

A visa is not required for transit passengers provided they:

– have entry facilities for the countries enroute and for the final destination;

– have a firm booking to travel by air within 24 hours;

– have no purpose in entering the United Kingdom other than to pass through in transit.

Transit visa is required for nationals of Afghanistan, D.R. of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya SPAJ, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uganda in all circumstances, including traveling on directly from the same airport without approaching immigration.

NOTE: Additional requirements may exist. Please contact the appropriate authority to confirm information.